Sports Movies, Ranked

Martin Scorsese's 1980 black-and-white boxing biopic won Robert De Niro the Best Actor Oscar and is routinely named among the greatest American films ever made.

Sylvester Stallone's 1976 underdog story won Best Picture and spawned one of cinema's most enduring franchises and training montages.

The 1986 Indiana high-school basketball drama earned two Oscar nominations and is widely cited as the greatest sports film about the underdog team.

Darren Aronofsky's 2008 film won the Golden Lion at Venice and earned Mickey Rourke an Oscar nomination for his raw turn as a broken-down pro wrestler.

Clint Eastwood's 2004 boxing drama won four Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Hilary Swank.

Ryan Coogler's 2015 spin-off revived the Rocky franchise to acclaim and earned Sylvester Stallone an Oscar nomination reprising Rocky Balboa.

The 2011 Brad Pitt drama about the Oakland A's sabermetrics revolution scored six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

The 1989 Kevin Costner baseball fantasy was nominated for Best Picture and gave pop culture the line 'If you build it, he will come.'

Denzel Washington's 2000 film about a newly integrated Virginia high-school football team was a major box-office hit and a staple of the inspirational-sports genre.

The 1993 film about undersized walk-on Daniel Ruettiger chasing a Notre Dame football dream remains one of the most beloved underdog tales ever made.

The 2004 Kurt Russell film dramatizes the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's stunning upset of the Soviet Union, the 'Miracle on Ice.'

Penny Marshall's 1992 comedy about a WWII-era women's baseball league was a box-office smash and was later selected for the National Film Registry.

The 1980 Harold Ramis comedy starring Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Rodney Dangerfield became an enduring cult favorite and one of the most quoted sports comedies.

The 1996 hybrid pairing Michael Jordan with the Looney Tunes was a huge commercial hit and a 90s nostalgia touchstone, though critically middling.

The 2006 Will Ferrell NASCAR comedy grossed over $160 million and is endlessly quoted, even if it leans more spoof than sports drama.

Adam Sandler's 1996 golf comedy became a cult hit big enough to earn a 2025 sequel nearly three decades later.

The 1974 Burt Reynolds prison-football comedy was a hit and earned a Golden Globe nomination, spawning multiple remakes.

The 1990 fifth installment was a critical and commercial disappointment and is widely regarded as the weakest chapter of the Rocky series.

The 2021 LeBron James sequel was panned as a soulless Warner Bros. IP commercial and swept the Razzies, winning Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel plus Worst Actor for James.